WE'RE TAKING THE MICK

 

Last season, Mark Hughes, 90s United assasin was Fulham manager. We started the season with a 2-2 draw at Craven Cottage with Paul Scholes hitting the net for the Reds. That was following by a 2-0 win at Old Trafford which led to us claiming the Premiership and Fulham finishing in the top half of the table as well. For the last time we did the double over Fulham you have to go back to the 07/08 season. Lawrie Sanchez started the season as Fulham gaffer and we got a 2-0 win at Old Trafford with Cristiano Ronaldo getting both goals. Then after a brief caretakership from Ray Lewington, Roy Hodgeson took over but he couldn't stop us winning 3-0 at Craven Cottage with Owen Hargreves amongst the scorers on our way to another title.

Fast forward to the present day and Martin Jol had become Fulham manager and the team were settling into a midtable position. United were starting to fire up at long last and so the reigning champions looking to give us an early Xmas present by heading down for this Premiership match at Craven Cottage in the search for another three points and hopefully another good performance as well to give Roberto Mancini something to think about over the festive period. Lindegaard in goal, Smalling right back, JOnes and Evans central defence, Carrick and Giggs central midfield. A seemingly straightforward match, now it was time to do the business.

The Reds were in no mood to hang around. In the 5th minute Nani crossed to Wellbeck for an opening goal that was pretty much an Xmas gift from the home side. Fact is, Martin Jol's crew were pretty much dead in the early stages of this encounter. Then in the 28th minute Giggsy played a 1-2 with Valwencia before crossing over to Nani who slotted in United's second before in the 43rd minute Nani returned the favour and Giggsy lobbed the goalie with help from a Fulham defenders' legs! The home fans were not impressed with their sides' performance but the United performance was looking like perfection itself, this game was surely over already.

Fulham got their act together to an extent in the early stages of the second half and looked like a good bet to at least pull a goal back. However United's defence held firm though Clint Dempsey was a particular nuisence with one effort having to be cleared off the line. The reigning champions weren't done yet though and we were starting to attack once again in the latter stages of the game and the question them became could we get a fourth? The answer was yes. In the 88th minute Giggsy set up Rooney for an absolute scorcher. Then in the 90th minute Valencia found Berbatov and the casualness of the Bulgarian assasin's backheel pretty much said it all.

Elsewhere, Man City beat Stoke 3-0 at the Eithad Stadium in what was pretty much a training session for the league leaders who hit two goals before half time before slotting a third early in the second half with an injury hit Stoke looking completely helpless! Chelsea drew 1-1 with Spurs at White Hart Lane. Spurs opened the scoring with the Blues equalising before half time with their fans snarking in the background over their team's captain being charged with racism. That left United still 2nd in the Premiership and on course for next season's Champions League group stages. They lie two points behind league leaders City and nine points ahead of Chelsea and having to take a detour through the playoffs.

Further afield, the Club World Cup took place in Japan. The tournament opened with J-League side Kashiwa Reysol beating Auckland City 2-0 in a playoff at the Toyota Stadium. Then came the quarter finals with Qatar Stars League side Al Sadd beating Tunisian CLP-1 side Esperence ST 2-1 at Toyota Stadium. Kashiwa Reyol then drew 1-1 with Monterrey after extra time then won on penalties. Barcelona then entiered the competition for the semi final stage and hammered Al Sadd 4-0 at the Toyota Stadium, getting two goal in each half and securing the seventh appearance out of seven for UEFA team in the final of the current incarnation of this competition.

So then came the final between Barcelona and Santos at the International Stadium. Lionel Messi opened the scoring for the La Liga side with Xavi making it two for them and Cesc Fabregas getting their third before half time. Messi then got his second goal and Barca's fourth before the end with the historically legendary Brazillian club simply not able to give their opponents a match though they did look a bit more competitive in the second half. So, congraulations to Barcelona who continue the proud run of UEFA teams in intercontinental competition, ensuring that the trophy goes back to Europe for the fifth year in a row with Lionel Messi picking up the tournament's Golden Ball award.

(Image taken from Soccernet)

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